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St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn got off to a strong start this season, much like a year ago, but couldn't help his team extend a six-game unbeaten streak. But Lynn is a key reason the Cards have climbed from 10th spot to second in the CBCSports.ca power rankings.

Yu Darvish was head and shoulders above everyone else in April when he won the MLB award for the pitching performance of the month, sponsored by a shampoo. Then he matched the 14 strikeouts against Boston to follow similar shut-down performances by his Rangers’ mates Derek Holland and Alexi Ogando.

A six-game winning streak by the Cardinals was their longest in three years. Strange that it would end with a loss by Lance Lynn who was 5-0 entering the game. Lynn, who rode a hot first-half last season to the all-star game, surrendered only 12 hits in 28 innings.

When leading after seven inning the Orioles have won their last 108 games. Pretty remarkable. Plus their top starter, Wei-Yin Chen, has a 3.40 earned run average. Closer Jim Johnson has appeared in 18 games and is 13-for-13 in save opportunities.

Able to withstand a disabled list that's grown to 10, the Yankees keep clipping along, reaching the top of the AL East on May 9 by percentage points over Boston and Baltimore. Curtis Granderson has started a rehab assignment and will return soon, but Vernon (The Bronx are Vernin' (Burnin') Wells has revisited his all-star form from his Blue Jays days.

Tim Hudson celebrated his 200th career win and National League player of the week honours by homering in the Braves' 3-1 victory over Washington. He joins Andy Pettitte and Roy Halladay as the only active players with 200 wins.

First they lost closers Andrew Bailey and Joel Hanrahan to the disabled list on consecutive days. Then Will Middlebrooks and David Ross were knocked out of a game when they collided on a foul pop up. Finally, the cobwebs cleared for Stephen Drew who had the game-winning hit in four consecutive Red Sox wins, after a spring training concussion.

Walk-off homers in consecutive games by Buster Posey and Guillermo Quiroz helped the Giants sweep the Dodgers. San Francisco is also clutch in one-run games winning 10 in a row. Madison Bumgarner opened the season with a 3-1 record and 2.31 ERA for the defending World Series champs.

Anibal Sanchez loves inter-league play. He whiffed 17 Atlanta Braves and took a 3-0 lifetime record into Washington in a rare Tigers visit to the U.S. capital. He lost, though, giving up two earned runs in six innings. Prince Fielder, with eight homers, 32 RBIs and a .300 average may give baseball’s leading hitter Miguel Cabrera a run for the Triple Crown.

Catcher-turned third baseman Nolan Arenado is turning heads for the Rockies. After hitting .364 at triple-A last year, Colorado moved him into the lineup and the 22-year-old produced three homers and eight RBIs in his first seven games. The Rockies have five players with at least seven home runs.

The biggest obstacle the Royals have faced is a disruption to their schedule with five games postponed and rescheduled already. After 87 wins in Tampa Bay as the mainstay of the Rays' staff, James Shields is maintaining his "Big Game James" persona in Kansas City with five starts allowing five hits or less.

There's only one team in baseball that hasn't been shut out this season, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Their pitching also ranks in the top quarter of MLB in earned runs allowed and plenty of their offensive is supplied by six-foot-three, 245-pound first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, with nine homers, 30 RBIs and .300-plus average.

Look who's leading MLB in home runs? Cleveland! Yes, the Indians are on the longball warpath (figuratively speaking) outpacing the Braves,Yankees, Rockies and Blue Jays. Ryan Raburn doesn't have anywhere near Mark Reynolds' 11 homers, but he's revived his career since changing his Great Lakes location to the other side of Lake Erie, from Detroit to Cleveland.

Often overlooked in the Washington Nationals rotation is Jordan Zimmermann, who ceded the spotlight to Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez. But after a 12-8 comeback season in 2012 after arm surgery, Zimmermann's been even better this year, leading his club in wins, ERA, opponents' average and WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched). He's 6-1, 1.59 for his first seven starts.

Russell Martin caused a stir when he decided not to play for Canada at the World Baseball Classic when he couldn't play shortstop, but there he was the other day at third base for the Pirates instead of behind the plate. At the plate, Martin, who had 21 homers, 53 RBIs as a Yankee last year, has a half-dozen homers so far for the Bucs.

Lefty Tony Cingrani, 23, had only five big-league innings on his resume when he stepped into a starting role for the Cincinnati Reds, helping out while ace Johnny Cueto recovers from injury. Cingrani has fared pretty well in his first four starts with a 2-0 record, 2.63 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 24 innings.

Yoenis Cespedes wasted little time getting back into the swing of things in helping the A's offence as he returned in late April from a hand injury. But what of Josh Reddick and Jarrod Parker? Reddick who had 32 homers a year ago was hitting .152 when he went on the DL due to his wrist; Parker, pitching with a stiff neck, was 1-5, with a 7.34 ERA after a 13-8 rookie campaign.

The best bullpen ERA in the American League belongs to the Minnesota Twins, about two runs a game better than the Twins' starters. Among the starters, Scott Diamond of Guelph, Ont., has been sparkling, shutting down Detroit and Boston in back-to-back assignments, after a delayed start due to off-season elbow surgery.

Led by youngsters Matt Moore and Alex Cobb, the Tampa Bay Rays and their starting pitching staff moved into second place all-time with 34 consecutive starts of at least five innings. The record is 45 games by the 1981 Pirates. Moore was 6-0 and Cobb 4-2 outpitching AL Cy Young award winner David Price and Jeremy Hellickson.

It seems always to be about the Phillies' pitching. Roy Halladay is heading for surgery to take care of bone spurs, his rotator cuff and whatever else they can find in his shoulder. But the biggest surprise in Philadelphia has to be Kyle Kendrick. After a loss in his first start, he's 4-0 with a 2.45 ERA for the season. Not bad for a supposed No. 4 starter.

Getting swept by the Giants can happen to any team so the Milwaukee Brewers don't have to be too disappointed but the sobering news for the Brew Crew is that their offence is being led by Yuniesky Betancourt. He's a homer ahead and tied in RBIs with former MVP Ryan Braun. Perhaps Betancourt thinks it's 2010 all over again when he had 16 homers, 78 RBIs for Kansas City.

Jason Bay began the season as the fifth outfielder for the Seattle Mariners, barely making the 25-man roster. He's worked his way gradually into more and more playing time and is finally regaining some of the all-star form he flashed earlier for Pittsburgh and Boston. Seattle, which is 26th in average and 27th in runs scored, needs all the offence it can muster.

The Padres must have prayed for a turnaround because that's what their pitchers have provided in a 10-game surge that's seen them lop nearly two runs a run off their earned run average down to 3.43. Chase Headley is back in fine form with a 13-game hitting streak that's seen his average rise to .320.

He's not exactly a one-man team as the Mets managed to win one of their last 10 games without him, but Matt Harvey is awfully impressive. He retired 27 of 28 batters he faced against the White Sox with the lone blemish an infield hit by good ol' Alex Rios. Harvey didn't come out for the 10th inning and that's where the New Yorkers prevailed for a 1-0 victory.

The White Sox aren't exactly tearing things up offensively as they're ahead of only the Marlins in runs and average, plus they're pitching staff is taking a beating. Gavin Floyd will need Tommy John surgery, John Danks isn't back yet from off-season surgery and Jake Peavy missed some time with back spasms. Ouch!

The Blue Jays had two ninth-inning comebacks for rare wins in Tampa and saw the comeback of lefty Ricky Romero, but the latter didn't last long. Romero, an all-star last year before losing his mojo in the second half of the season, returned for two starts after spending a month at minor league camp. A total of 4 1/3 innings and two losses later, Romero was shuffled off to triple-A Buffalo.

The Angels fell 10 games below .500 for the first time in seven years. Their 11-22 start was the worst in franchise history and Jered Weaver is recovering from his broken shoulder slower than anticipated. Then they dropped two in a row with new divisional rival Houston before manager Mike Scioscia protested (withdrawn when the Angeles won) and the Angels avoided a sweep.

Speaking of comebacks, geez Hanley Ramirez, we hardly knew you. Ramirez, also a former all-star, missed the first month of the season with a thumb problem and lasted all of four games with the Dodgers before straining a hamstring and is out four to six weeks. The Dodgers have had two six-game losing streaks for the first time in a century.

Say what? Cubs manager Dale Sveum said Travis Wood was the best pitcher in baseball after Wood stiffled the Cardinals on one run, five hits, with eight strikeouts to earn his third win of the year in five decisions. Full marks for the Wood outing, but with thinking like that is it any wonder the Cubs haven't won a World Series since 1908.

The secret to winning for the Astros? Besides knowing you can't call a pitcher into a game and not have him face a batter before you relieve him with another. Score first. The Astros were 0-17 when their opponents scored first until coming from behind to beat the Angels. Six of the Astros' first 10 wins came against West Coast clubs.

The Marlins are billed as Giancarlo Stanton and company. That is, he's the star and the rest of the team mostly fills out the uniforms. Stanton, who had 37 homers and 86 RBIs last year, went down with a Grade 2 hamstring injury and won't be back until June. Ex-Blue Jay Adeiny Hecchavaria contributed in his absence with a club record seven-RBI-game including a grand slam off Roy Halladay.